After a successful summer on State Street, the Tiny Library Project has made its way to Goleta in the form of a bright yellow hashtag sitting in front of the Goleta Valley Library at 500 N. Fairview Ave.
Thanks to a partnership between the city of Goleta and Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture, the hashtag will remain on the front lawn of the library through April 30, and will be stocked by library staff with books for all ages.
The tiny libraries exhibit was created by artist Douglas Lochner.
The exhibit features six bright, life-sized, functional art “libraries” in the shape of punctuation marks, with books that are free to the public. Individuals are also encouraged to leave books to donate to other readers.
“I am delighted to have this eye-catching, creative library available for our community members to enjoy. This is a unique opportunity for those without a library card to have access to free books. We encourage anyone who doesn’t yet have a library card to come take a look at the hashtag and then come inside and get a Goleta Valley library card.” said library director Allison Gray.
The other five punctuation marks will be placed throughout the county.
While the city is excited for their tiny library, it’s just one of the many exciting things happening at the Goleta Valley Library, said city spokesperson Jamie Shaw.
Currently, the library is hosting Adult Winter Reading Club and the first ever children’s Spanish Book Club.
The Adult Winter Reading Club runs until Feb. 28. Patrons are encouraged to read or listen to as many books (including magazines and periodicals) as they can to enter into a weekly raffle to win prizes donated by local businesses.
The new Spanish Book Club is designed for children in grades 3 through 6 who speak Spanish and would like to improve their Spanish reading and comprehension skills, according to a city press release.
Each book will be covered over three meetings where students will get to practice their Spanish vocabulary as they discuss what they’ve read and theorize what will come next in the book. The book club will work to improve children’s Spanish language skills by:
- Deepening their appreciation and understanding of Spanish-language text
- Extending their thinking to process and interpret different perspectives and opinions of their peers
- Expanding their ability to express ideas orally using academic language
- Providing an authentic context for applying norms for listening and speaking
The Spanish Book Club meets the second and fourth Sunday of every month at 3 p.m. at the library. Space is limited and registration is required in person or by calling 805-964-7878.
Free homework is also available for kindergarten through 5th graders from 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the library.
The library will pair students with library staff and volunteer tutors, and the library will try to pair up the same tutor with the same student so that they can build a relationship that goes beyond homework help, according to a city press release.
For more information about the Tiny Libraries Program visit www.sbac.ca.gov/tinylibraries.
To keep up to date on what is happening at the Goleta Valley Library follow the library on Facebook @GoletaValleyLibrary and Instagram @goletavalleylibrary.
email: cwhittle@newspress.com
